June 18, 2007
Dwayne Brown/Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726/1979
RELEASE: 07-139
NASA AND ESA SIGN AGREEMENTS FOR FUTURE COOPERATION
PARIS -- At a ceremony held Monday at the International Paris Air Show
at Le Bourget, France, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin and
European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain
signed two agreements defining the terms of cooperation on the James
Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Laser Interferometer Space
Antenna (LISA) Pathfinder mission.
Although it will operate over a different range of wavelengths, the
James Webb Space Telescope is considered the successor to the Hubble
Space Telescope. Its launch is targeted for 2013 and it will operate
for at least five years.
The telescope is a mission of international cooperation between NASA,
ESA and the Canadian Space Agency to investigate the origin and
evolution of galaxies, stars and planetary systems.
At the heart of the observatory is a large telescope, which has a
primary mirror measuring 21.3 feet in diameter (compared to 7.9 feet
for Hubble) that provides a relatively large field of view.
A set of four sophisticated instruments, including a fine guidance
sensor for precision pointing, will combine superb imaging capability
at visible and infrared wavelengths with various spectroscopic modes
to learn about the chemistry and evolution of objects in our
universe.
The telescope will operate well outside the Earth's atmosphere at a
spot in space called the second Lagrangian point or "L2" located 1
million miles -- or four times farther than the moon's orbit -- in
the direction opposite the sun. From this location, the observatory
is expected to revolutionize our view of the cosmos as Hubble has.
According to the agreement, NASA is responsible for the overall
management and operation of the JWST mission and will build the
spacecraft, the telescope and the platform that will house the
instruments. ESA will provide an Ariane 5 ECA rocket for the
telescope's launch.
NASA also will provide a major instrument, the Near-Infrared Camera,
through the University of Arizona, Tucson. ESA will provide the
Near-Infrared Spectrograph operating over similar wavelengths. NASA
will provide the instrument's detectors, which will measure the
wavelengths of light emanating from the stars being observed.
NASA also will provide the microshutters, which are used to select
which star in the field of view will be observed by the detectors.
The third instrument on board is the Mid-Infrared Instrument. It is
being built through a consortium of nationally funded European
institutions, which are responsible for the instrument's optical
assembly and NASA, with coordination through ESA. Canada will provide
the fourth instrument on board, the Fine Guidance Sensor/Tuneable
Filter Imager.
"The signing of this agreement on JWST, based on a long-standing and
consolidated cooperation between ESA and NASA, will make history once
more," said Dordain. "In particular, we are very proud to use Ariane
5 to put this great observatory into space."
"We're delighted to have ESA's participation on the James Webb Space
Telescope," said Griffin. "The tremendous scientific success of the
Hubble Space Telescope can be attributed to the cooperative efforts
between our two agencies. We expect that, as Hubble's successor, the
James Webb Space Telescope also will make profound astronomical
observations and discoveries. When it does, we can be proud that it,
too, is a project of international cooperation."
At today's ceremony, the leaders of both agencies also signed an
official agreement on the ESA-initiated Laser Interferometer Space
Antenna (LISA) Pathfinder mission, currently targeted for launch in
early 2010. LISA Pathfinder is aimed at demonstrating the
technologies needed for a planned future joint ESA-NASA LISA mission
that will detect gravitational waves in space and test the theory of
general relativity.
Under this agreement, ESA will design, develop, launch and operate the
LISA Pathfinder spacecraft. A consortium of European scientific
institutes will provide the LISA Technology Package, which features a
sensor to detect non-gravitational forces on the spacecraft.
NASA will provide the Disturbance Reduction System Package. That
package will work in tandem with the technology package and consists
of thrusters that produce a minute level of force, combined with
control systems and software.
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